Plax should be demoted

October 01, 2000 by In the Trenches

Plax should be demoted

Plax should be demoted

After the first couple games, both fans and Plax Burress alike were screaming to get him the ball. "He's a number
one pick, why don't throw him the ball?!?" I completely agreed with this mentality until his performances the
past two weeks.

To start with, if someone is going to open their mouth and scream for the ball...great! I like a little
attitude on the team as long as it's not detrimental to others. BUT...when someone fails to walk the walk after
talking the talk, it's becomes a problem.

Last week Plax dropped more passes than he caught - 3 drops, 1 catch by my count. One of the drops was in the
endzone (it would not have been an easy catch but still should have been had) while the other two were fairly
simple out patterns.

"More catches than drops?," I ask. "But he's a rookie," is frequently what I hear as a response.

Unfortunately the rookie excuse goes only so far. This week for the fourth (give or take one) time, Plax
committed a false start....as a receiver. Four false starts by a receiver??? Most receivers don't have four false
starts in a career let alone 4 games. This is Brendon "Pig" Stai type production out of a wide receiver. At
least linemen have the fear of a foul smelling 400 pound oxen to intimidate them into the early movement. Wide
receivers merely look down the line and watch for the ball to be snapped. Is he dreaming of getting out of the
blocks in the 100 meter finals in Sydney....anticipating the gun??? Sorry Plax, but you'll never by racing
Maurice Green for the gold.

The most painful of all plays was the brilliant spike today after Kordell threw a beauty of a pass to him over
the middle. After slightly bumping a fellow teammate, Plax fell (untouched by the Jags) to the ground. Play was
still live, no whistles had been blown, but he was so happy to have not botched the play, he spiked the ball
high into the air, much to the chagrin of the 4 white jerseys around him. It was like Christmas in October for
the Jags as they scooped up the ball and headed up field to be tackled by Kordell (a nice tackle by number 10 I
must add -- maybe he can replace Scott "Pelican" Shields at safety).

Had Plax committed any of the above mistakes in fewer numbers, I'd say, "He's a rookie, let it slide." But his
foul-ups are too many and too often. I don't want to completely rob him of his playing time, but he needs something
to get him focused during practice and game time. Maybe being placed in the number three spot for a game would
serve as a nice, swift kick in the unfocused can. He's probably not completely lax in practices, but it's
apparent that he's not fully applying himself either.